Is it just me, or do you also miss having a real villain in a kid’s fairy-tale movie? Because lately, villains seem to have said, ‘ Bye-bye,’ and misunderstood characters have said, ‘Hello world.’
Seems like Netflix doesn’t get bored of messing up stories, TV shows, franchises, and so on. As if the Narnia trailer hadn’t been criticized enough, now they announced their own retelling of Cinderella, and guess what? Now the stepsisters are not evil, just misunderstood.
Okay, we’ve been over this. How many more Cinderella retellings do we need? Is it really necessary to give every villain a tragic backstory so we end up empathizing and saying, ‘Oh, they’re not bad; they just don’t know any better ‘? Let me answer that at once and shortly: No.
I understand the idea of wanting to teach children that people have layers and that they are complicated, and that’s all well and good. But in real life, some people are just mean, and they should also know that. We already had a story where we took the main villain and changed her entire arc. I’m talking about Maleficent, in case you were wondering. Say whatever you want about it, but I absolutely love that movie, especially because they managed to give Maleficent real motives for her villainy without excusing her or making it look like the princess was to blame. Her journey is about acknowledging her wrongs, learning to trust and love once again. And she succeeds: she ends up loving Aurora as much as Aurora loves her. It’s not just to say, ‘villains are not that bad.’ It’s about her healing journey. Besides, Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning did a terrific job in their roles. It’s impossible not to stan them.
I know, I know, this is an animated movie; it’s not so serious. But at some point it even feels like they’re disrespecting our childhoods. I grew up with the animated Disney Cinderella, and it’s simply a beautiful movie, both in the aspects of the messages it transmits and in the art style. It was about holding on to your ideals, being a good person even when the world seems to be against you, and learning how to be kind and respectful to all living creatures. I believe those are important lessons as well. Heck, if you want another angle to the story, go watch the sequels! Cinderella 2 and 3 presented a new perspective and gave the stepsisters a chance at their own happy ending.
If a retelling is what you’re going for, let me remind you, the saga A Cinderella Story exists. We got amazing actresses playing those roles: Hilary Duff, Lucy Hale, Selena Gomez, and Sofia Carson. They might not be the greatest pieces of cinema ever made, but they deliver what they promise and are so much fun to watch!
And if you’re really into the ‘flipping tropes’ thing, there’s this book called Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly, that tells the story from the stepsister’s perspective without diminishing Cinderella’s experience. It has great reviews, so maybe we could even turn it into a book club!
Either way, people on Twitter were not happy at all with the new retelling of a favourite classic, and they made sure to communicate that. Feel free to share your thoughts with us!
